International Railroad Discussion > Plarail Stamp Rally (2023 and 2024, Tokyo, Japan)

More than 10 years ago, in October of 2014, I participated in a stamp rally celebrating Japan's Railroad Day which falls on October 14. There were many things being celebrated at that time, including the 50th Anniversary of Tokaido Shinkansen, and the 100th Anniversary of Tokyo Station:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3715328,3715341#3715341

In 2023, Tomy (the maker of Plarail) co-sponsored a stamp rally with East Japan Railway (JR East). The prize got better (ticket holder with a neck strap) but the requirements got tougher, too. Instead of visiting and stamping minimum of 5 stations, the participant had to visit 10 stations now.

The notebook prize from 2014 was given away for "free" (plus the price of the train tickets), but minimum of 600 yen purchase + completed stamp rally pamphlet was required to collect the fancy ticket holder prize at participating NewDays convenience stores. NewDays is a subsidiary of JR East, and it's no coincidence that they are located "conveniently" inside or next to JR East's train stations.

The railroad wants a piece of the convenience store marketshare (7-11, FamilyMart, Lawson, other competitors). People who know about Japan know how wonderful (and competitive) the convenience stores are over there.

There were 2 bonus prizes - acrylic (clear plastic) display stands of Shinkansens E5 and E6. Collecting those required visiting Echigo-Yuzawa and Mito, respectively, with the same 600 yen requirement, but just get one stamp each at those stations.

My brother was going hiking near Echigo-Yuzawa, and since I already had a JR Rail Pass in hand, I accompanied him for the Joetsu Shinkansen ride in the morning, got the stamp and prize, then started my railfan day there. 600 yen requirement was easy. We both bought bottled iced green tea (~220 yen total), got some road food (sandwiches, rice balls, about 460 yen total) at the Echigo-Yuzawa NewDays.

600 yen is about $4, depending on the exchange rate. Definitely under $5, even 2 years ago.

Visiting Mito was a no-brainer for a foamer like me - Joban Line's Limited Express Hitachi is known to make the longest non-stop run (124.7 km or just under 78 miles) for JR Group, 1067 mm gauge, non-HSR train, covering that distance in 1 hour and 8 minutes (Ueno <--> Mito). So I wandered over to Mito lazily riding slow local lines, then once I got the stamp and the prize (Shinkansen E6 acrylic stand), I darted back to Tokyo at 130 km/h (81 mph) top speed.

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Tomy (Plarail) and JR East outdid themselves in 2024, with even better prizes. Tomy was celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Plarail. Don't know the significance of 65, but might as well...

The 10 station prize for 2024 was a Shinkansen keyholder. I was going to get one of 3 types, Shinkansen E5, E6, or ??? I got lucky and got the ???, the newest Shinkansen, the E8.

The bonus prizes were going to be full size (HO scale-ish) 3 car "clear (semi-transparent)" Shinkansen E3 Plarail set, where the participants had to visit 3 Shinkansen stations: Fukushima, Echigo-Yuzawa, and Karuizawa to get each of the cars.

By the time I visited Japan, the stamp rally was already going on for month and a half, so the end cars of Plarail Shinkansen E3 already ran out. JR East had already posted revised posters saying so, to make sure people didn't waste time and money to visit the stations then end up empty-handed. Money wasn't much of a problem, as I had a JR Rail Pass. I visited Karuizawa to collect the middle car. I also enjoyed Karuizawa's hand-made chocolate desert sold at NewDays, which covered the 600 yen. It was really good.

I patiently searched Japan's online auction sites to see if I could find the Plarail E3 end cars for sale. I didn't need them, except to make this report complete, hence my not posting this right away. I eventually found them many months later at reasonal prices, due to the waning excitement of the stamp rally.

- Keyholder in a silver bag, left; stamp rally pamphlet, middle; boxes of Plarail prizes, right.
- In both 2023 and 2024, participation in a drawing can win you 1 of 200 clear Yamanote Line Plarail set.
- Plarail E3 compared to McDonald's Happy Set Doctor Yellow ("shorty" Plarail). 

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Even for a toy, Plarail's carbody proportions are good enough. What looks very odd are the wheels - oversized, no trucks, and 2 axles instead of 4 or 6 per car.

But Plarail designers allow a bit of functional realism in the toys. For example, one end of Shinkansen E3 has a magnetic coupler, to mimic how the E3 is coupled to E2 or E5. One end of Plarail E2 and E5 also has the magnetic coupler.

The stamp rally Shinkansen E3 is my first ever "official" Plarail. I have smaller N-scale-ish Capule Plarail and McDonald's Happy Set "shorty" Plarail toys, but they aren't "real" Plarail. Kinda cool that I got it via riding "prototype" trains, instead of buying one at a toy store.

- 2023 Plarail Stamp Rally flyer/advertisement onboard a train.
- Shinkansen E3 end car, coupler retracted; back side of the keyholder.
- The grey lever opens the nose and extracts the coupler.

That's it for the report.

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Thanks for the interesting story.  Gerry